Broken Promises (COMPLETED)

Chapter 37 - Yearning

My lovely readers, the moment we have all been waiting for! Finally Dei and Richard meet again, and how! I initially planned to just rewrite the prologue from Richard's perspective alone, but I felt Richard needed to have his moment with Thirdy too, so I added the last part to complete the reunion.

It's a bittersweet reunion, not quite together yet but getting there. Dei is a lot more careful now, despite her desires for Richard. Richard is as giving as he was since day one, willing to wait. 

I hope I did justice to this much-awaited reunion, enjoy it my dears! Thank you so much for the love, you all inspire me to keep writing. Fluff alert for the next chapters. It's about time :) 

August 11, 2017

Richard spritzed some cologne on himself, knowing how Dei liked to sniff at him. He had to be careful about his mind, he was thinking of her too much. Eight long months without her made him like this, like a schoolboy preparing for a first date with his crush. He smiled at the possibilities that could happen once she sees him, knowing that she had no idea yet about his involvement in this project.

He proceeded to enter the building where Alvin's office and temporary home was located, then went to the men's room first to check his image one last time. He had to admit he looked better than he first met Dei seven years ago. Since then. He filled out in the right places, the hardships and problems erased his boyish roundness and replaced it with sharper angles on his jaw and cheeks. He lost so much weight from worrying but with the months past, he was able to bring himself to shape and take care of himself better.

He suddenly remembered Sheila and said a prayer for her. Sheila could not go with him today because it was her scheduled visit to the hospital. He hoped everything was ok for her and promised to call her later.

Richard walked into Alvin's office and gave the receptionist his business card. He was ushered to sit in the reception area, to wait for Alvin to arrive. He wondered how Dei was. Throughout his calls to ask about Thirdy, her mama never volunteered any information about Dei, and he never asked anything. He didn't know if she took Alvin's offer, was too shy to ask her mama about it. If she did accept the job, he hoped their relationship was purely professional, because he was pretty sure Alvin was attracted to Dei. So many things could happen in the months he was away, he hoped it was not too late to claim his wife back.

The arrival of Alvin and his team interrupted his reverie. He looked at Alvin, judging him to be younger than he was by maybe five or six years, but already a self-made man. They were of the same height, heck they even resembled each other. Could that be the reason why Dei fangirled over him so much? The thought was a double-edged sword. He liked that she fangirled because Alvin reminded her of him, but hoped the fangirling didn't go beyond that.

He observed Alvin's entourage. There was his PA, Mama Ten, someone he saw occasionally on TV. Then there was Leysam, his handler, someone Dei mentions sometimes, back when she was still on good terms with him. And then he saw her, or someone who looked like her.

She was in a charcoal grey business suit, her frilly white blouse a feminine contrast to the austere tailored cut of her suit, the skirt a decent length just above her knees. Her shapely legs were encased in elegant black pumps, her hair in a bun. She turned sideways to face the receptionist, to give instructions for a visitor. He was dumbfounded, it really was Dei.

She looked so different from how he remembered her last. Back then, she was not this slim femme fatale, she was starting to gain weight beyond her control, a result of being cooped up in their house, with nothing better to do in between writing jobs but eat. Added to that was the weight she gained from giving birth. She did not exude this air of confidence, nor did she dress this way. The Dei he knew always dressed casually.